How does climate change affect infant health?

Global climate change affects babies health, scientists from Lancaster University in the UK and the Oswaldo Cruz Institute of Science in Brazil have found.

Researchers studied fertility data for 11 years in 43 highly river-dependent municipalities in Brazil, Nature Sustainability reported.

As it turned out, the amount of precipitation during the woman's pregnancy affected the weight and height of the child at birth. Extreme climatic conditions contribute to premature birth, resulting in babies that are underweight or stunted. The decrease in the average birth weight was almost 200 grams.

The researchers noted that extreme climatic conditions can affect the health of mothers and their unborn children, such as causing poor harvests, reducing access to nutritious and affordable food, and increasing the prevalence of infectious diseases.

Extremely heavy rainfall in the Amazon causes flooding in rivers, the researchers said, putting poorer families at risk of waterborne diseases and creating ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes, leading to outbreaks of malaria or dengue fever.

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter